At Happy Earth making every drop count is all about keeping every drop of water that lands on our site here for as long as possible, and reducing our reliance on mains water to a minimum. Some of the ways we’re managing our water consumption include:

Looking after the biggest water tank we have - that’s the soil! Well structured soils full of life retain water incredibly well. See soil improvement techniques for more info. Growing food in our backyard is one of the most crucial ways to reduce our overall water consumption, as so much water goes into producing and distributing conventionally grown food

Maximising soil surfaces and minimising hard surfaces like areas of concrete to allow water to be absorbed. We had a massive concrete driveway that water streamed off, so we broke most of the driveway up into pieces, and have created gorgeous mosaic paths with the small concrete pieces. The paths meander through the food forest, and are broken up by soil and herbs, to allow maximum water absorption.

We used to catch water in buckets, and our buckets have now grown into two 9,000 litre water tanks. They supply the garden and washing machine. We’ve positioned the tanks to allow most of the garden to be gravity fed, which minimises use of the pump. If you can get a hold of any old big olive barrels, they make fantastic and cheap water storage tanks too.